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Supplemental Research Brief- 2009 National Business Ethics Survey
Ethics Resource Center (ERC)
Ethics Resource Center (ERC)
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Abstract
"The recent recession was a jarring reminder that efficiency and effectiveness are essential to the survival of any organization and that employee engagement—the commitment employees feel toward their employing organization—is a critical part of the equation. Engaged employees recommend their company to friends and family, take pride in working there, and intend to stay with the company. They are also willing to go the extra mile for their organization, making it possible for the company to do more with less. And because they can be counted on to make independent decisions and take action in ways that are consistent with the company’s culture, objectives, and values, they require less supervision and direction and adapt easily to changing roles and responsibilities. Recognizing that engaged employees are vital for organizational success, more and more leaders are asking: “How can we increase the level of employee engagement?” “What actions and decisions decrease engagement and should be avoided?” “With limited resources to invest in salaries and benefits during these tough times, what else can I do to increase engagement?” Fortunately for executives whose resources are already stretched thin, employee engagement is heavily influenced by factors that have nothing to do with money: the overall purpose of the organization, trust and confidence in senior leaders, and the amount of recognition employees receive. It’s not that money doesn’t matter. It’s just that money tends to be a “deficiency need.” If employees feel that they are significantly underpaid—that their pay does not reflect their contributions to the organization— their motivation is likely to suffer. But when it comes to encouraging employees to pour discretionary effort into their work and deliver superior performance, the chance to contribute to something larger than themselves and be recognized for it is likely to provide a much stronger incentive. Experience and common sense tell us that a company’s ethics are an important factor in employee engagement, but little research has been done to confirm this view. Using data from the Ethics Resource Center’s 2009 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES), researchers from ERC and the Hay Group explored the relationship between company ethics and employee engagement in order to answer several key questions: n Does ethical culture play a part in employee engagement? n Does management’s commitment to ethics impact employees’ engagement with the company as a whole? n Does misconduct undermine employee motivation? n Do engaged employees respond differently to observations of misconduct?"(pg 1)
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2009
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With permission of the license/copyright holder